Hungary plans to give public full access to Stasi files

Political parties in Hungary yesterday began talks about a new law which would guarantee the public unrestricted access to Stasi files, while at the same time protecting the rights of victims of the organisation's spying activities. According to Balázs Stépán, the current law is "pathological" and "full of compromises" and therefore in urgent need of reform: "When it became known that former Prime Minister Medgyessy had worked for the secret service under the codename 'Comrade D-209', he promised full access to all Stasi files, but was forced to resign soon afterwards. His successor, Ferenc Gyurcsány, went back on this because anonymous letters – presumably from former functionaries of the secret service – put the socialist party under pressure. The letters stirred up fear, with the result that a completely harmless version of the law entered force... Access to the files was heavily restricted. The director of the national security service declared many files secret, and the Supreme Court approved the measure. Once again, the public was excluded."

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